Actors who portray major characters from the film and television versions of the iconic science fiction series made cameo appearances during the three-hour-long ceremony celebrating the best movies of 2012.

William Shatner, the actor that played Starship Enterprise captain James T. Kirk in original series helped open the awards show with host, Seth McFarlane.

“I’ve come back in time from the 23rd century to stop you from destroying the Academy Awards,” joked Shatner to McFarlane.

Actors Chris Pine and Zoe Saldana also had a part to play in the festivities. Pine, who plays Kirk in 2009′s “Star Trek” and its sequel “Star Trek Into Darkness “ being released later this year, and Saldana, who plays the Enterprise’s communications officer Uhura, recapped an earlier event they co-hosted on Feb. 10 called the “Sci-Tech Oscars.”

The smaller ceremony is designed to showcase the technical achievements of designers and technicians on movie sets.

The newest movie in the Star Trek franchise, “Star Trek Into Darkness,” is set to be released on May 17.

March 1 (Reuters) - Alex Ferguson sees himself becoming a director at Manchester United when he finally decides to quit management. The 71-year-old Scot, who shelved retirement plans more than a decade ago, still has no idea when he will call it a day. "There's no getting rid of me," Ferguson, who has been in the Old Trafford hot seat since 1986, said in an interview with twentyfour7 Football magazine published on Friday. "I will probably become a director. "Nobody knows (when I will step down), neither do I. It won't be a doctor that tells me to quit. ...

Actors who portray major characters from the film and television versions of the iconic science fiction series made cameo appearances during the three-hour-long ceremony celebrating the best movies of 2012.

William Shatner, the actor that played Starship Enterprise captain James T. Kirk in original series helped open the awards show with host, Seth McFarlane.

“I’ve come back in time from the 23rd century to stop you from destroying the Academy Awards,” joked Shatner to McFarlane.

Actors Chris Pine and Zoe Saldana also had a part to play in the festivities. Pine, who plays Kirk in 2009′s “Star Trek” and its sequel “Star Trek Into Darkness “ being released later this year, and Saldana, who plays the Enterprise’s communications officer Uhura, recapped an earlier event they co-hosted on Feb. 10 called the “Sci-Tech Oscars.”

The smaller ceremony is designed to showcase the technical achievements of designers and technicians on movie sets.

The newest movie in the Star Trek franchise, “Star Trek Into Darkness,” is set to be released on May 17.

Actors who portray major characters from the film and television versions of the iconic science fiction series made cameo appearances during the three-hour-long ceremony celebrating the best movies of 2012.

William Shatner, the actor that played Starship Enterprise captain James T. Kirk in original series helped open the awards show with host, Seth McFarlane.

“I’ve come back in time from the 23rd century to stop you from destroying the Academy Awards,” joked Shatner to McFarlane.

Actors Chris Pine and Zoe Saldana also had a part to play in the festivities. Pine, who plays Kirk in 2009′s “Star Trek” and its sequel “Star Trek Into Darkness “ being released later this year, and Saldana, who plays the Enterprise’s communications officer Uhura, recapped an earlier event they co-hosted on Feb. 10 called the “Sci-Tech Oscars.”

The smaller ceremony is designed to showcase the technical achievements of designers and technicians on movie sets.

The newest movie in the Star Trek franchise, “Star Trek Into Darkness,” is set to be released on May 17.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street rose on Wednesday as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke reaffirmed his support of the Fed's stimulus policy, the latest U.S. earnings showed strength and an Italian bond auction drew ample demand, reassuring investors.

In his second day before a congressional committee, Bernanke repeated testimony in which he defended the Fed's policy of buying bonds to keep interest rates low in order to promote growth and bring down the unemployment rate.

Bernanke's similar remarks on Tuesday helped the market rebound from its worst decline since November. The S&P 500 is now back above 1,500, a closely watched level that has been technical support until recently.

"Bernanke comments will keep liquidity in place in the market and every dip now is being viewed as an opportunity to get in," said Dan Veru, chief investment officer at Palisade Capital Management.

Financial markets had been worried about the possibility the Fed would end its bond buying earlier than expected after Fed meeting minutes showed some policymakers favored changes.

Also supporting the market, European stocks and the euro rose on relief that Italy was able to sell bonds despite jitters about the country's political instability.

The benchmark S&P 500, up 6 percent for the year, was within reach of record highs a week ago, before the minutes from the Fed's January meeting were released. Since then, the index has shed 1 percent as the minutes raised questions about whether the Fed may slow or halt its economy-stimulating measures soon.

In earnings news, discount retailer Target Corp appeared poised for a solid showing in the first quarter and forecast a higher profit for the full year after a weak performance in the key holiday season. The stock was off 1.5 percent at $63.07.

Actors who portray major characters from the film and television versions of the iconic science fiction series made cameo appearances during the three-hour-long ceremony celebrating the best movies of 2012.

William Shatner, the actor that played Starship Enterprise captain James T. Kirk in original series helped open the awards show with host, Seth McFarlane.

“I’ve come back in time from the 23rd century to stop you from destroying the Academy Awards,” joked Shatner to McFarlane.

Actors Chris Pine and Zoe Saldana also had a part to play in the festivities. Pine, who plays Kirk in 2009′s “Star Trek” and its sequel “Star Trek Into Darkness “ being released later this year, and Saldana, who plays the Enterprise’s communications officer Uhura, recapped an earlier event they co-hosted on Feb. 10 called the “Sci-Tech Oscars.”

The smaller ceremony is designed to showcase the technical achievements of designers and technicians on movie sets.

The newest movie in the Star Trek franchise, “Star Trek Into Darkness,” is set to be released on May 17.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks advanced on Tuesday, rebounding from a steep decline a day earlier after an inconclusive Italian election and on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's testimony defending the central bank's bond-buying program.

Major indexes had fallen more than 1 percent on Monday, with the S&P 500 dropping the most since November on voting in Italy where groups opposed to austerity posted a strong showing. But no faction secured a clear majority in parliament, renewing fears about a new euro zone debt crisis.

"There's an increased willingness to buy equities, and every decline is met with a new round of buying, but there's a question as to whether that can be sustained," said Bruce McCain, chief investment strategist at Key Private Bank in Cleveland, Ohio.

European equities , which closed before the results on Monday, fell 1.1 percent, even as U.S. shares rose.

"It's a little surprising that we're not taking Europe more seriously now," he added. "It will be hard for us to avoid the weight of Europe's decline, and the question is whether our early strength will hold throughout the day."

In testimony before the Senate Banking Committee, Bernanke strongly defended the Fed's bond-buying stimulus program, or quantitative easing. Equities have benefited from the Fed's easy monetary policy, designed to boost the economy and employment.

"If Bernanke were to give any nugget of information about when QE might end, that would move markets, but we haven't seen anything like that," said Mike Shea, a trader at Direct Access Partners in New York.

Last week, concerns the Fed might curtail or end its stimulus efforts earlier than expected prompted a sharp decline by stocks, though they recovered most of the lost ground by the end of the week.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 88.66 points, or 0.64 percent, at 13,872.83. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 6.09 points, or 0.41 percent, at 1,493.94. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 7.82 points, or 0.25 percent, at 3,124.07.

Dow component Home Depot Inc was the top gainer on both the Dow and S&P 500 after reporting adjusted earnings and sales that beat expectations, sending shares up 5.6 percent to $67.52.

Macy's Inc rose 3.3 percent to $39.80 after stating it expects full-year earnings to be above analysts' forecasts because of strong sales in the holiday period.

Economic reports that showed strength in housing and consumer confidence also supported stocks.

Home prices rose more than expected in December, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index. Consumer confidence rebounded in February, jumping more than expected, and new-home sales rose to their highest in 4-1/2 years.

For the benchmark S&P 500 index, 1,500 will be watched as a key level after the index closed below it on Monday for the first time since February 4, with selling accelerating after falling below it. An inability to break back above it could portend further losses.

Actors who portray major characters from the film and television versions of the iconic science fiction series made cameo appearances during the three-hour-long ceremony celebrating the best movies of 2012.

William Shatner, the actor that played Starship Enterprise captain James T. Kirk in original series helped open the awards show with host, Seth McFarlane.

“I’ve come back in time from the 23rd century to stop you from destroying the Academy Awards,” joked Shatner to McFarlane.

Actors Chris Pine and Zoe Saldana also had a part to play in the festivities. Pine, who plays Kirk in 2009′s “Star Trek” and its sequel “Star Trek Into Darkness “ being released later this year, and Saldana, who plays the Enterprise’s communications officer Uhura, recapped an earlier event they co-hosted on Feb. 10 called the “Sci-Tech Oscars.”

The smaller ceremony is designed to showcase the technical achievements of designers and technicians on movie sets.

The newest movie in the Star Trek franchise, “Star Trek Into Darkness,” is set to be released on May 17.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks edged lower on Monday after fears of a divided parliament in Italy, the euro zone's third-largest economy, rekindled worries about the currency union's stability.

The center-right coalition led by former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi was leading in the race for the Italian Senate, dashing hopes of a pro-reform, center-left victory seen as crucial to dig the euro zone out of a debt crisis.

The market had hoped for a center-left victory because it would continue the path to pay down Italian debt, said Art Hogan, managing director of Lazard Capital Markets in New York.

"What we don't want to hear is a renewed fear about a euro zone fracture," he said.

The S&P 500 was nonetheless near highs not seen in five years, and bets on a strong U.S. economy have given equities support. The S&P 500's slight fall last week was the first weekly drop after a seven-week string of gains.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 22.5 points or 0.16 percent, to 13,978.07, the S&P 500 lost 2.15 points or 0.14 percent, to 1,513.45 and the Nasdaq Composite added 3.18 points or 0.1 percent, to 3,164.99.

The Nasdaq received support from Amgen Inc , up 3.8 percent to $90.16 after a voluntary recall from a competitor to its top-selling red blood cell booster Epogen.

European shares trimmed gains, edging up 0.1 percent and Italy's main FTSE MIB was up 0.7 percent after earlier gaining near 4 percent.

U.S. equities will face a test with the looming debate over the so-called sequestration, U.S. government budget cuts that will take effect starting Friday if lawmakers fail to reach an agreement over spending and taxes. The White House issued warnings about the harm the cuts are likely to inflict on the economy if enacted.

With 83 percent of the S&P 500 having reported results, 69 percent of beat profit expectations, compared with a 62 percent average since 1994 and 65 percent over the past four quarters, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Fourth-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies are estimated to have risen 6 percent, according to the data, above a 1.9 percent forecast at the start of the earnings season.

When it comes to looking for a job, what you don’t say can be just as important as what you do say. Here are nine phrases and words to leave off your résumé.

Try

Try simply shows a lack of belief, passion, commitment, and confidence — all the qualities you need to succeed in today’s tight job market. While try is the most dangerous word that an employee or job seeker can use in the workplace, there are certainly other danger words that also indicate negativity, uncertainty or controversy at work and can also doom your chances of getting (or keeping) a job. – Brad Hoover, CEO ofGrammarly

Clichés

Don’t use common buzzwords such as innovative, team player and results-oriented. These and others are so overused that they’re now seen as clichés and have lost their impact altogether. Rather, list specific accomplishments. Instead of saying you have extensive experience in sales, note that you’ve worked in sales for 10 years, hit your quota the last 12 quarters and note specific deals you’ve closed. As a hiring manager I want real details of past jobs, such as how many people you supervised or specific ways you helped increase profitability.— Darnell Clarke, author of self-published “Employmentology: A Practical Systematic Methodology of Finding Employment by a Hiring Manger”

References available upon requestWhen it comes to developing a strong résumé, there are many words and phrases which shouldn’t be included in this professional document. One of the most outdated happens to be the phrase: “references available by request.” You’re not doing yourself a favor by wasting precious space on your résumé to include a phrase that is clearly understood by hiring managers and recruiters. If a hiring manager is interested in contacting your references, they will request the information from you. – Heather Huhman, founder and president of Come Recommended

Irrelevant and outdated experience

Oftentimes I will see candidates that still have their high school work experience on their résumé. This is a huge mistake since it looks like the candidate is reaching for items to include on their résumé. Rather, include any recent projects that challenged you and include a similar skill set for the position you are applying for. — Patrice Rice, CEO and founder of Patrice & Associates

Objective

Candidates should never put an objective on their résumé. Their objective is to get the job. It has been my experience that hiring managers simply do not care about a job seeker’s objective. What they want to see are your skills and experience. – Stefanie Carrabba, senior consultant atEliassen Group

Responsibilities include

In today’s tough job economy job seekers need résumés that are leaner and cleaner than ever before, so they command the attention of busy hiring personnel. This is why the phrase “responsible for” should never occur in a résumé. This tired and completely impractical expression is going to be translated into completely average at and will most certainly cause hiring managers to toss the résumé aside. Wasting prime résumé real estate with basic tasks, duties, or responsibilities is a sure way to harm a job search since nobody is interested in reading a career obituary of basic requirements. – Adrienne Tom, founder and certified professional resume writer (CPRW) atCareer Impressions

Vague claims

I was going through a large number of résumés last week for a search project that I am working on and about 75 percent of the candidates had the phrase “transformational leader’” on their résumé. No explanations of how they were transformational or what that meant. That phrase is overused and doesn’t specifically mean anything that translates to a specific experience. My recommendation is to remove this from your résumé and more specifically describe the skill set. – Kimberly Bishop, founder and CEO ofKimberly Bishop Executive Recruiting

Love

As in I’d love to work for a company. I see it all the time when people ask me to take a look at their résumé and/or cover letter. You love your significant other, your kids, your family. You shouldn’t put love on a cover letter or résumé! — Dayna Steele, speaker and author of “101 Ways to Rock Your World” (iUniverse 2012)

Qualitative descriptions

I would leave off any qualitative description that is not accompanied by an example or metric. Some of the words job seekers use in a summary that are glossed over such as seasoned, experienced, creative and innovative. Just give me years of experience and what exactly did you start or improve. — Caroline Ceniza-Levine, career and business expert atSixFigureStart

This story was provided by BusinessNewsDaily, a sister site to LiveScience. FollowDavid Mielachon Twitter @D_M89or BusinessNewsDaily @bndarticles. We’re also onFacebook&Google+.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors face another Washington-imposed deadline on government spending cuts next week, but it's not generating the same level of fear as two months ago when the "fiscal cliff" loomed large.

Investors in sectors most likely to be affected by the cuts, like defense, seem untroubled that the budget talks could send stocks tumbling.

Talks on the U.S. budget crisis began again this week leading up to the March 1 deadline for the so-called sequestration when $85 billion in automatic federal spending cuts are scheduled to take effect.

"It's at this point a political hot button in Washington but a very low level investor concern," said Fred Dickson, chief market strategist at D.A. Davidson & Co. in Lake Oswego, Oregon. The fight pits President Barack Obama and fellow Democrats against congressional Republicans.

Stocks rallied in early January after a compromise temporarily avoided the fiscal cliff, and the Standard & Poor's 500 index has risen 6.3 percent since the start of the year.

But the benchmark index lost steam this week, posting its first week of losses since the start of the year. Minutes on Wednesday from the last Federal Reserve meeting, which suggested the central bank may slow or stop its stimulus policy sooner than expected, provided the catalyst.

National elections in Italy on Sunday and Monday could also add to investor concern. Most investors expect a government headed by Pier Luigi Bersani to win and continue with reforms to tackle Italy's debt problems. However, a resurgence by former leader Silvio Berlusconi has raised doubts.

"Europe has been in the last six months less of a topic for the stock market, but the problems haven't gone away. This may bring back investor attention to that," said Kim Forrest, senior equity research analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group in Pittsburgh.

OPTIONS BULLS TARGET GAINS

The spending cuts, if they go ahead, could hit the defense industry particularly hard.

Calls on the stock far outpaced puts, suggesting that many investors anticipate the stock to move higher. Overall options volume on the stock was 2.8 times the daily average with 17,000 calls and 3,360 puts traded, according to options analytics firm Trade Alert.

"The upside call buying in Lockheed solidifies the idea that option investors are not pricing in a lot of downside risk in most defense stocks from the likely impact of sequestration," said Jared Woodard, a founder of research and advisory firm condoroptions.com in Forest, Virginia.

The stock ended up 0.6 percent at $88.12 on Friday.

If lawmakers fail to reach an agreement on reducing the U.S. budget deficit in the next few days, a sequester would include significant cuts in defense spending. Companies such as General Dynamics Corp and Smith & Wesson Holding Corp could be affected.

The latest data on fourth-quarter U.S. gross domestic product is expected on Thursday, and some analysts predict an upward revision following trade data that showed America's deficit shrank in December to its narrowest in nearly three years.

U.S. GDP unexpectedly contracted in the fourth quarter, according to an earlier government estimate, but analysts said there was no reason for panic, given that consumer spending and business investment picked up.

Investors will be looking for any hints of changes in the Fed's policy of monetary easing when Fed Chairman Ben Bernake speaks before congressional committees on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Shares of Apple will be watched closely next week when the company's annual stockholders' meeting is held.

On Friday, a U.S. judge handed outspoken hedge fund manager David Einhorn a victory in his battle with the iPhone maker, blocking the company from moving forward with a shareholder vote on a controversial proposal to limit the company's ability to issue preferred stock.

Around this time of year, I often get lots of inquiries concerning a certain very bright star-like object shining over toward the southern part of the sky. It’s Sirius, the Dog Star, the brightest star in the night sky.

Granted, the planet Jupiter currently shines three times brighter and appears much higher in the sky, but while Jupiter shines with a steady, silvery glow, Sirius will remind you of the famous early 19th century limerick, “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” written by the English poet, Jane Taylor, for indeed, Sirius seems to shine “like a diamond in the sky.” Who knows? Maybe Taylor was inspired by gazing upon Sirius.

Not a few astronomy books suggest that you can locate Sirius by using the belt of Orion, as the belt points southeast directly toward Sirius — as if anyone needed a way to find this dazzling luminary! While it is true that Orion’s three-star belt will direct you toward Sirius, all anyone needs to do is simply cast a glance toward the southern sky during these cold winter evenings and they’ll immediately see it. It will be due south between 8:30 and 9 p.m. local time all of this week, and sets in the southwest between 1:30 and 2 a.m.

So bright, so near

Sirius is the brightest star of the constellation Canis Major, the “Greater Dog” in Latin.

According to Burnham’s Celestial Handbook, other names for it include “The Sparkling One” or “The Scorching One.” The star appears a brilliant white with a tinge of blue, but when the air is unsteady, or when the star is low to the horizon, it seems to flicker and splinter with all the colors of the rainbow.

At a distance of just 8.7 light-years, Sirius is the fifth-nearest known star. Among the naked-eye stars, it is the nearest of all, with the sole exception of Alpha Centauri. Sirius is gradually moving closer to the solar system, so it will slightly increase in brightness over the next 60,000 years. After that time its distance will begin to recede, but it will continue to be the brightest star in the Earth’s sky for the next 210,000 years. [The Nearest Stars to Earth (Infographic)]

The Dog Star has a pup

Over thousands of years, Sirius appears to move in a wavy line across the sky.

In 1862, Alvan G. Clark first saw Sirius B, also known as “the Pup,” the companion star responsible for the wiggle. Sirius B is only one ten-thousandth as bright as Sirius A, but by 1914, spectroscopic observations had demonstrated that its temperature was about the same. From physical laws it follows that B emits the same amount of light per unit surface area as A, and therefore to be so dim, it must be very small.

Later calculations have shown that A has just over twice the mass of our sun, but B has nearly one solar mass. Since it is so small, B must be exceedingly dense.

In fact, it packs 98 percent of one solar mass into a body just 2 percent of the sun’s diameter. To do that, Sirius B must have a density 90,000 times that of the sun. A teaspoon of this star material would weigh about 2 tons!

Look for Canopus

Now is also the time of the year for southerly observers to look for Canopus, in the constellation of Carina, the Keel (part of the now-defunct constellation of Argo Navis, the Ship).

Canopus still holds its rank as second only to Sirius in apparent brightness. The two stars differ by 0.8 magnitudes, so that Canopus is about half as bright as Sirius. But the former is more than 34 times as distant from us.

And, in fact, intrinsically, the luminary in Carina outshines the one in Canis Major by about 600 times. This week, if you are anywhere south of north latitude 37.6 degrees, you can get a glimpse of Canopus as it skims just above the southern horizon, almost directly south of Sirius around 8:30 p.m.

Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York’s Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for The New York Times and other publications, and he is also an on-camera meteorologist for News 12 Westchester, New York.

Thousands of space fans young and old got a taste of what life in space is like Friday (Feb. 22) during NASA‘s first-ever Google+ Hangout with astronauts on the International Space Station.

The live online video conference connected three members of the space station‘s crew with chat participants from around the world and came just days after the $ 100 billion space laboratory briefly lost communications with NASA Mission Control.

“The space station is a robust, tough space ship,” Canadian Space Agency astronaut Chris Hadfield said when asked about the communications malfunction. “We worked together as a crew following the procedures as we’re trained to do. After just a couple orbits, we had the computers talking to the antennas properly so we could talk to the ground. We were working together as a team.”

Expedition 34 commander Kevin Ford and flight engineer Tom Marshburn, both of NASA, joined Hadfield in answering questions from their online audience, which peppered the crew with questions via Twitter, Google+ and YouTube. The questions ranged from what books the astronauts read to how a cat might deal with life in zero gravity. [Take a video tour inside the space station]

Two students from Union High School in Iowa asked the astronauts to explain why space agencies around the world have people living in space.

“The whole point of having a space station is to have some place in space where people can take their ideas,” Ford responded. “We have a huge power supply up here. We have a lot of rack space, and we have a lot of scientists on the ground with a lot of ideas of things to do in space.”

Other questions focused on the health of the astronauts.

Space station astronauts are expected to monitor their health very closely to see how the body changes when exposed to microgravity. Hadfield was in the middle of one of those health experiments today.

Marshburn — a medical doctor — explained that two non-invasive temperature probes attached to Hadfield’s head and chest allow the scientists see how his natural body cycles have changed since being in orbit.

Because the space station experiences 16 sunsets and as many sunrises in any given day, the circadian rhythms of station astronauts tend to change a great deal while in orbit, the astronauts said. Hadfield’s temperature-monitoring probe will help doctors keep track of just how much those change.

The space station residents have contingency plans for medical emergencies too.

A group of students from the Neil Armstrong Institute in Monterrey, Mexico asked the spaceflyers what would happen if one of their colleagues fell ill while in space.

Marshburn explained that there are always two medical officers as part of the six person crew. The designated residents are trained to perform medical procedures that will stabilize the injured spaceflyer until he or she can be sent back to Earth using the Russian Soyuz capsule that brought them to the station.

The question and answer session with the space station lasted about 20 minutes, but NASA astronauts on the ground Nicole Stott and Ron Garan fielded questions from the audience for the other 40 minutes.

Hadfield, Ford and Marshburn make up half of the Expedition 34 crew currently living on the International Space Station. Three Russian cosmonauts round out the crew.

The International Space Station is the largest structure ever built in space. It is the size of a football field and was constructed by 15 different countries working under five space agencies representing the United States, Russia, Europe, Canada and Japan.

Construction of the space station began in 1998 and it has been continuously staffed by international astronaut crews working on a rotating mission schedule since 2000.

NASA also provides live video from the International Space Station via Ustream, as well as live audio from the space station.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rebounded on Friday as Hewlett-Packard, the largest personal computer maker, surged on strong results, but the S&P 500 index was on the way to end a streak of gains that has lasted seven straight weeks.

The S&P shed 1.9 percent over the previous two sessions, its worst two-day drop since early November, putting the index on pace for its first weekly decline of the year. The retreat was triggered when the Federal Reserve's meeting minutes for January suggested stimulus measures may be halted sooner than thought.

Still, the index is up nearly 6 percent for the year and held the 1,500 support level despite the recent declines, a sign of a positive bias in the market.

"The market is addicted to Fed stimulus and gets withdrawal shakes every time that's threatened, but now we're resuming our course and remain much more attractively valued than other asset classes," said Rex Macey, chief investment officer at Wilmington Trust in Atlanta, Georgia.

Hewlett-Packard Co jumped 9.6 percent to $18.74 as the top boost on both the Dow and S&P 500 after the PC maker's quarterly revenue and forecasts beat expectations. The company cut costs under Chief Executive Meg Whitman's turnaround plan. The S&P technology sector was up 0.6 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 52.22 points, or 0.38 percent, at 13,932.84. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 5.25 points, or 0.35 percent, at 1,507.67. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 13.45 points, or 0.43 percent, at 3,144.94.

For the week, the Dow is off 0.3 percent in its third straight week of slight losses, the S&P is off 0.7 percent and the Nasdaq is off 1.4 percent.

Also buoying tech stocks were gains in semiconductor companies after Marvell Technology Group Ltd forecast results this quarter that were largely above analysts' expectations as it gained market share in the hard-disk drive and flash-storage businesses.

"Dividends growing are another way the market's level is justified, if not especially attractive at these levels," said Macey, who manages about $20 billion in assets.

On the downside, Abercrombie & Fitch dropped 7.3 percent to $45.49 after the clothing retailer reported a drop in fourth-quarter comparable sales, even as its latest quarterly earnings topped estimates.

According to Thomson Reuters data through Friday morning, of 439 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported results, 70 percent have exceeded analysts' expectations, compared with a 62 percent average since 1994 and 65 percent over the past four quarters.

Fourth-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies are estimated to have risen 6 percent, according to the data, above a 1.9 percent forecast at the start of the earnings season.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Thursday, on track for the biggest two-day decline since November, as weak data suggested expectations for economic growth were overly optimistic.

The two-day decline was stocks' first sustained pullback this year. The S&P 500 is up 5.4 percent so far this year and risen for seven straight weeks, putting it near five-year highs.

In the latest economic data, initial claims for unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week while the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said its index of business conditions in the U.S. mid-Atlantic region fell in February to minus 12.5, the lowest in eight months.

"The Philly Fed report was troublingly weak, and adds to concerns about whether growth will remain up," said Brad Sorensen, director of market and sector analysis at Charles Schwab in Denver. "The only growth we're seeing is sluggish."

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq posted the worst daily decline of the year on Wednesday after comments from the Federal Reserve sparked concerns the central bank may rein in its economic stimulus measures.

"The upside momentum in markets appears to be coming to an end as we consolidate recent gains," said Adam Sarhan, chief executive at Sarhan Capital in New York. "If the S&P breaks under its 50-day moving average, something more serious could be in store."

The benchmark index would need to fall 1.9 percent to reach that level of 1,473.58.

Other reports showed consumer prices were flat in January while existing-home sales edged higher and left inventory of homes at the lowest level in 13 years.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc gained 3.1 percent to $71.34 and helped limit losses on the Dow after reporting earnings that beat expectations, though early February sales were sluggish.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 53.07 points, or 0.38 percent, at 13,874.47. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 8.26 points, or 0.55 percent, at 1,503.69. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 24.71 points, or 0.78 percent, at 3,139.70.

The benchmark S&P index has dropped 1.8 percent over the past two sessions, the biggest two-day decline since November.

Wall Street will soon face another test with the upcoming debate in Washington over the automatic, across-the-board spending cuts put in place as part of a larger congressional budget fight. Those cuts, due to kick in March 1 unless lawmakers agree on an alternative, are expected to depress economic growth.

In company news, Safeway Inc jumped 15 percent to $23.12 and was the S&P's top percentage gainer after it reported earnings that beat expectations.

According to Thomson Reuters data through Thursday morning, of the 427 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported results, 69.3 percent have exceeded analysts' expectations, compared with a 62 percent average since 1994 and 65 percent over the past four quarters.

Fourth-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies are estimated to have risen 5.9 percent, according to the data, above a 1.9 percent forecast at the start of the earnings season.

Berry Petroleum Co jumped 17 percent to $45.16 after oil and gas producer Linn Energy LLC said it would buy the company in an all-stock deal valued at $4.3 billion including debt. Linn Energy shares advanced 2 percent to $37.34.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks dipped on Wednesday, with energy shares falling as investors found few reasons to buy following a rally that has held major indexes near five-year highs for three weeks.

In addition, investors waited for the minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee's January meeting due at 2 p.m. (1900 GMT) for clues to the interest rate outlook.

Traders said there were unconfirmed rumors in the market that a troubled hedge fund was selling assets.

"I heard the chatter about a hedge fund liquidating things today but how big, I don't know. Certainly it sparks concern," said Michael James, senior trader at Wedbush Morgan in Los Angeles.

A jump in January of permits for future home building offered hope the housing market's recovery remains on track. A separate report showed wholesale prices rose last month for the first time in four months.

The S&P 500 has jumped about 7 percent so far this year, and is on track for its eighth straight week of gains. However, many of those weekly gains have been slight, with equities trading within a narrow range for the past few weeks, suggesting valuations may be stretched at current levels.

"The market seems very tired and listless, and investors are prone to take profits now as they wait for the music to stop," said Matt McCormick, money manager at Bahl & Gaynor in Cincinnati.

Energy companies were among the weakest, hurt by disappointing corporate results and a 2.4 percent drop in crude oil prices.

Newfield Exploration fell 5.8 percent to $25.73 while Devon Energy Corp fell 1.6 percent to $59.60. Both companies posted fourth-quarter losses, with Devon hurt as it wrote down the value of its assets by $896 million due to weak natural gas prices.

Groundbreaking to build new U.S. homes fell 8.5 percent in January but new permits for construction rose to a 4 1/2-year high while producer prices rose in January for the first time in four months.

Investors will look to the minutes from the Fed's January meeting for any indication as to how long the Fed will keep buying $85 billion in bonds each month to bolster U.S. employment. Economic data should enable the Fed to maintain its easy monetary policy.

Shares of OfficeMax Inc fell 3.8 percent to $12.51 while Office Depot slumped 13 percent to $4.37 as the companies announced a $1.2 billion merger agreement. The shares had risen sharply earlier this week after a source said a deal would be announced. Rival Staples Inc fell 3.5 percent.

Toll Brothers Inc lost 4 percent to $35.43 after the largest luxury homebuilder in the United States, reported first-quarter results well below analysts' estimates.

The stock is up 9 percent so far this year, building on jump of nearly 60 percent in 2012.

"Valuations appear a bit high at these levels, and if I was in a name that had seen a huge run, I'd want to take some chips off the table," said McCormick, who helps oversee about $8.2 billion in assets.

SodaStream dropped 6.5 percent to $49.04 after the seller of home carbonated drink maker machines posted fourth-quarter earnings and provided a 2013 outlook.

According to Thomson Reuters data through Tuesday morning, of the 405 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported results, 71 percent have exceeded analysts' expectations, compared with a 62 percent average since 1994 and 65 percent over the past four quarters.

Fourth-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies are estimated to have risen 5.7 percent, according to the data, above a 1.9 percent forecast at the start of the earnings season.

Sheriff Ron Lockhart of Sequoyah County hasn’t yet determined that the death of 65-year-old Danny Vanzandt was definitely a case of spontaneous combustion — but he hasn’t ruled it out, either.

“It’s very unusual, and it’s bizarre, and I can’t explain it,” Lockhart told KFSM. “I’m not saying this happened. I’m just saying that we haven’t ruled it out.”

Vanzandt’s brother discovered the victim in the kitchen and immediately called 911, according to KFSM. Fire crews found a badly burned body, but no fire damage to nearby furniture or other items. There were no signs of a break-in, a struggle or any other cause of death.

Spontaneous combustion has long been the stuff of legend, but some researchers believe it’s possible, though rare. In 2011, a coroner in Ireland ruled that the death of 76-year-old Michael Faherty was the result of spontaneous human combustion, or SHC. [The 9 Most Bizarre Medical Conditions]

For any item to combust, it needs at least two things: a source of ignition and fuel for a fire. In many alleged cases of SHC, the victims were smokers or were near open flames like candles or a burning fireplace.

And the fuel for SHC might come from the victims themselves. Fat will burn, and fatty tissue is often located directly beneath the skin. Clothing or hair can act as candle wicks, according to researcher Joe Nickell, who investigated several such cases in his book, “Real-Life X-Files” (University Press of Kentucky, 2001).

Alcohol abuse is an additional factor in many cases of spontaneous combustion, either because it causes the victims to “pass out” or sleep soundly, or because alcohol itself is flammable. According to KFSM, Vanzandt was a heavy drinker and a heavy smoker who also had “poor hygiene” and no running water in his house at the time of his death.

Investigators also noted that Vanzandt had burn marks in his trachea, indicating he may have inhaled a considerable amount of smoke and carbon monoxide, which can cause a person to lose consciousness and, in high concentrations, can be deadly, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Though the term “spontaneous combustion” sounds like a sudden burst of flames, Lockhart told KFSM the body appeared to have burned for up to 10 hours. Vanzandt’s remains have been sent to the Oklahoma medical examiner’s office in Tulsa, which will determine the cause of death.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Google's latest privacy policy could land it with a fine of upto $1 billion under a new law allowing Europe-wide challenges to U.S.-based Internet giants, Europe's top justice official said on Tuesday.

Viviane Reding, the European Union's commissioner for justice, said rules being finalized by the European parliament and EU countries would allow a single EU data regulator to fine companies on behalf of all national watchdogs.

"The one-stop-shop regulator could threaten a company which does not obey the rules with a fine of up to two percent of global turnover," Reding told journalists.

Asked what kind of offence would receive the full two percent fine Reding pointed to Google. "The test case (Google) is a clear one."

The overhaul of the existing EU data protection regime could come into effect next year and would allow for bigger single fines.

It would also require all countries to have fines. Some states do not now levy penalties.

Google's total revenue in 2012 amounted to $50 billion which would make a two percent fine $1 billion.

Under current European rules, only individual countries can levy fines against companies that violate data privacy laws. Fines range from 300,000 euros to 600,000 euros.

Reding said that the ongoing dispute between EU data protection regulators and search engine Google showed the weaknesses of the current system, which relies on each country identifying and punishing privacy breaches.

She added that Google's decision to ignore a warning by regulators in October to change its privacy policy was a clear-cut case for a fine.

Google said it had not ignored warnings and had since amended its privacy policy.

European data watchdogs have said they plan to take "repressive" action against Google by this summer for its privacy policy, which took effect last March and allows the search engine to pool user data from across all its services ranging from YouTube to Gmail.

While regulators say Google's policy infringes users' privacy, the company said it is not breaking any laws.

The new law now would place greater responsibility on companies such as Facebook to protect users' information and threaten those who breach the code with fines.

U.S. companies have been lobbying heavily against the regulation which forces them to seek water-tight permission from users for collecting their data and also gives users more rights to obtain and delete their own data from services like Facebook.

The European Parliament is currently reviewing the rules drafted by the European Commission. They will then need the consent of EU member nations before becoming law, a process that could take up to a year.

LONDON (Reuters) - The yen resumed falling on Monday after Japan signaled it would push ahead with expansionist monetary policies having escaped criticism from the world's 20 biggest economies at the weekend.

Industrial metals also dipped and European shares were soft on lingering worries about the economic outlook, especially for the euro zone. While the risk of an inconclusive outcome in Italy's forthcoming election added to investor concerns.

However, activity was curtailed by the closure of markets in the United States for the Presidents' Day holiday.

The yen, which has dropped 20 percent against the dollar since mid-November, fell further after financial leaders from the G20 promised not to devalue their currencies to boost exports and avoided singling out Japan for any direct criticism.

The dollar rose 0.5 percent to 93.95 yen, near a 33-month peak of 94.47 yen set a week ago. The euro added 0.3 percent to 125.40 yen, to be midway between Friday's two-week low of 122.90 and a 34-month high of 127.71 yen hit earlier this month.

Strategists said the yen was likely to stay weak, though its decline could lose momentum until it becomes clear who will be taking the helm at the Bank of Japan when the current governor steps down on March 19.

"The yen probably will weaken a little further in anticipation of more aggressive easing under a new leadership team at the Bank of Japan," said Julian Jessop, chief global economist at Capital Economics.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is poised to nominate the new governor in the next few days. Sources have told Reuters that former financial bureaucrat Toshiro Muto, considered likely to be less radical than other candidates, was leading the field.

Meanwhile the euro dipped slightly against the dollar when European Central Bank president Mario Draghi said the currency's recent gains made any rise in inflation less likely and added that he had yet to see any improvement in the euro zone economy.

Speaking before the European Parliament, Draghi said the euro's exchange rate was not a policy target but was important for growth and stability, adding that appreciation of the euro "is a risk".

The comments left the euro down 0.2 percent at $1.3334.

Elsewhere in the currency market, sterling hit a seven-month low against the dollar, after a key policymaker made comments about the need for further weakness and recent poor data which has kept alive worries of another British recession.

Sterling fell 0.25 percent to $1.5476 having earlier touched $1.5438, its lowest since July 13.

DATA LOOMS

A big week for data on the outlook for the world's economy weighed on other riskier asset markets following the recent dire fourth-quarter growth numbers for the euro zone and Japan, along with Friday's soft U.S. manufacturing figures.

In European markets, attention is focused on the euro area Purchasing Managers' Indexes for February and German sentiment indices due later in the week which could affect hopes for a recovery this year.

Analysts expect Thursday's euro area flash PMI indices, which offer pointers to economic activity around six months out, to show growth stabilizing across the recession-hit region, leaving intact hopes for a recovery in the second half of 2013.

Concerns over an inconclusive outcome in the Italian election on Sunday and Monday have added to the weaker sentiment as a fragmented parliament could hamper a future government's efforts to reform the struggling economy.

The worries about the outlook for Italy were encouraging investors back into safe-haven German government bonds on Monday, with 10-year Bund yields easing 3.5 basis points to be around 1.63 percent.

"Political uncertainty will keep Bunds well bid this week," ING rate strategist Alessandro Giansanti said, adding that only better than expected economic data could create selling pressure on German debt in the near term.

Italian 10-year yields were 4 basis points higher on the day at 4.41 percent.

EARNINGS HIT

European equity markets were taking their lead from corporate earnings reports which have been reflecting the sluggish economic conditions across the region.

Danish brewer Carlsberg , which generates just over 60 percent of its sales in western Europe, became the latest to report a weaker-than-expected quarterly profit, sending its shares to their lowest level in almost a month.

The 5.8-percent drop for shares in the world's fourth biggest brewery helped send the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares down 0.2 percent. Germany's DAX , France's CAC-40 and Britain's FTSE-100 ranged between 0.4 percent up and 0.15 percent lower.

Earlier, the G20 statement and subsequent comment from Prime Minster Abe indicating a renewed drive to stimulate the Japanese economy lifted the Nikkei stock index by 2.1 percent, near to its highest level since September 2008.

MSCI's world equity index was flat as markets extended a two-week period of consolidation that has followed the big run-up in January, when demand was buoyed by the efforts of central banks to stimulate the world economy.

Data from EPFR Global, a U.S.-based firm that tracks the flows and allocations of funds globally, shows investors pulled $3.62 billion from U.S. stock funds in the latest week, the most in 10 weeks after taking a neutral stance the prior week.

But demand for emerging market equities remained strong, with investors putting $1.81 billion in new cash into stock funds, the fund-tracking firm said.

CHINA RETURN

In the commodity markets, traders played catch-up after a week-long holiday last week in China, the world's second biggest consumer of many raw materials, which had kept activity subdued, with worries about the economic outlook weighing on sentiment.

Copper, for which China is the world's largest consumer, dipped to a near three-week low at $8,125.25 a metric ton (1.1023 tons) on the London futures market. Benchmark tin and nickel also touched three-week lows.

Gold managed to edge away from six-month lows as jewelers in China returned to the physical market after the Lunar New Year holiday but a lack of demand from U.S. markets saw the precious metal slip back to be down 0.1 percent to $1,607.06 an ounce.

Crude oil markets were mostly steady after the weak U.S. industrial production data on Friday [ID:nL1N0BF44A] was seen dampening demand, while tensions in the Middle East lent some support.

"We continue to see a mixed picture out of the United States. Industry output was lower than expected but that shouldn't affect the general upward direction," Olivier Jakob, analyst at Geneva-based Petromatrix, said.

Brent crude was down 20 cents at $117.46 a barrel after posting its first weekly loss since the first half of January. U.S. crude slipped 24 cents to $95.62.

MIAMI (Reuters) - Bruce Parton was only a few weeks from retirement after 30 years as a mail carrier in sunny Florida.

He never lived to fulfill his retirement plan of moving back to a quiet life in the Catskill mountains of New York, not far from where he grew up on Long Island.

Instead, he was gunned down on his daily mail route in December 2010 by members of an identity theft ring who stole his master key as part of a scheme to claim fraudulent tax refunds.

Using stolen names and Social Security numbers, criminals are filing phony electronic tax forms to claim refunds, exploiting a slow-moving federal bureaucracy to collect the money before victims, or the Internal Revenue Service, discover the fraud.

Parton was a victim of what officials say has ballooned into a massive, and dangerous, illegal industry that could cost the nation $21 billion over the next five years, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.

While that is a relatively small sum compared to the $1.1 trillion collected from individual tax payers in the last fiscal year, the crime has been growing by leaps and bounds in the last three years.

"We are on the top of a national trend that is causing a hemorrhage of tax dollars," said Wifredo Ferrer, United States Attorney for south Florida. "It's a tsunami of fraud."

While the IRS says it has detected cases in every state except North Dakota and West Virginia, the fraud's epicenter is Florida, and it is mostly concentrated in Miami and Tampa.

Miami has 46 times the per-capita rate of false tax refund claims than the rest of the country, and 70 times the national average in dollar terms, Ferrer told Reuters.

"For whatever reason, we always tend to lead the nation when it comes to fraud," he said, noting that his office has been battling massive Medicare fraud in recent years that has since spread to other parts of the country.

Florida's high proportion of older residents, who can be more vulnerable to fraud, may be one reason for the high levels of fraud in the state.

Nationwide, the number of cases of tax identity theft detected by authorities sky-rocketed to more than 1.2 million cases in 2012 from only 48,000 in 2008, according to the Treasury Department.

The real number of phony tax filings is likely much higher as the fraud is hard to track, according to a November General Accountability Office report.

Tampa police first detected it in 2010 when officers discovered wanted street criminals engaged in tax fraud. "They were holed up in hotels with laptops churning out tax claims," said congresswoman Kathy Castor, who represents the area and is pressing the IRS to get tougher on the fraud.

When agents raided a Howard Johnson in East Tampa in late 2010, they found suspects smoking marijuana and four laptop computers being used to file fraudulent tax returns on Turbo Tax, the tax preparation software, according to police records.

The suspects had lists of personal information containing more than 1,000 names and confidential personal information, multiple re-loadable debit cards, and records of numerous financial transactions. The investigation revealed that the suspects had been camped out in the hotel room for more than a week filing claims.

Tax identity fraudsters are apparently drawn by the ease of the crime, officials say.

"The scheme is very basic, it works virtually the same in almost every case," said Ferrer. "All they need is your name and the tax ID number."

Armed with that information a refund claim can be filed electronically, making up other details on the form, including addresses, employer data, income and deductions.

Criminals obtain the vital numbers using various tactics, often by bribing office workers with access to personnel files inside companies, as well as large public institutions such as hospitals and schools, according to prosecutors.

Last summer a hacker stole 3.8 million unencrypted tax records from the South Carolina Department of Revenue in what is believed to be the largest security breach of a U.S. tax agency. Authorities say they do not know the hacker's motive.

One North Miami man, Rodney Saint Fleur, was charged last year with using the LexisNexis research service account at the law firm where he worked to access names and Social Security numbers of 26,000 people as part of an identity theft scheme, according to court documents.

Victims in Florida have varied from hospital patients, to Holocaust survivors at an elderly Jewish community center, as well as active duty military serving overseas.

In December, a former U.S. Marine from North Miami was sentenced to nearly five years in prison for stealing the identities of more than 40 fellow Marines stationed at Camp Leatherneck in Afghanistan as part of a plot to claim $54,000 in fraudulent income-tax refunds.

In Parton's case the criminals were after his master key that gives postal workers access to mail drop-off boxes and apartment mailboxes. He was shot twice in the chest by a gunman as part of a plot to steal identities in people's mail for tax refund fraud.

The gunman, Pikerson Mentor, 31, was sentenced last month to life plus 42 years.

More than 600 people turned up for Parton's funeral, including postal workers and people who got to know him on his route. "He had been doing that mail route for 10 years and he always had a smile for everyone," said his daughter, Nina Parton.

The criminals stay under the radar using identities of the elderly or the very young, who are unlikely to be filing for earned income, as well as the deceased. They typically claim small refunds, around $3,000, but use multiple identities, with payments often made to pre-paid debit cards.

FIGHTING BACK

The IRS said last week it is intensifying a crackdown on identify theft, with 3,000 agents devoted to tackling the problem, double the number assigned in 2011.

The number of IRS criminal investigations into identity theft more than tripled in the year to September 2012, and it was on pace to double again this year, acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller told reporters.

The tax collection agency prevented $20 billion in attempted tax refund fraud in fiscal year 2012, up from $14 billion a year earlier, he said.

"It's one of the biggest challenges that faces the IRS today," Miller said. "We're doing much better on all fronts but we have much more to do."

Despite the increase in investigations, the agency still had a backlog of 300,000 cases of people waiting for legitimate refunds after they were victims of fraud. It takes an average of six months to resolve a case, Miller said.

"The IRS have put a lot of resources on it, but they always seem to be behind the curve," said Keith Fogg, a tax professor at Villanova University School of Law.

Electronic filing, which now accounts for 80 percent of returns and was introduced to speed up delivery of refunds, has made the system more vulnerable to fraud.

The IRS is seeking to speed up the loading of data from W-2 payroll forms issued at the beginning of the tax season, a time lapse which gives fraudsters a window of opportunity to file using false data.

The IRS is also looking for ways to authenticate the identity of tax filers at the time of filing to pre-empt fraud, as well as working with the Social Security Administration to limit access to a registry of social security data of deceased tax payers, the so-called "Death Master File", a frequent target of fraud.

"We will not be prosecuting our way out of this. That's not going to be the answer. We're going to have to make it more and more difficult for criminals to profit from this behavior," said Miller. "If they're not successful they will move onto something else."